RE: Rating20 Jul 2025 08:10
Wizz Air quit Gulf after Abu Dhabi went back on deal, boss says
Airline chief claims previously agreed routes to India and Pakistan were blocked
Jozsef Varadi, chief executive of Wizz Air
Jozsef Varadi says the launch of flights to the Indian subcontinent has always been Wizz’s ultimate goalCredit: Bernadett Szabo/Reuters
Christopher Jasper
Christopher Jasper
Transport industry editor
20 July 2025 8:00am BST
Wizz Air’s decision to quit the Middle East was triggered by a row with its Abu Dhabi government partner over alleged favouritism shown to the Gulf state’s airline, its chief executive has said.
The budget airline last week suspended all flights from its Abu Dhabi hub, blaming the “hot and harsh” climate, as high temperatures and sand particles degraded its engines.
But Jozsef Varadi, chief executive of Wizz Air, told The Telegraph that the move was also driven by curbs imposed on its local division by the Abu Dhabi authorities.
These included a refusal to let Wizz Air Abu Dhabi – a joint venture between Abu Dhabi and the airline – fly to India and Pakistan as previously agreed, despite the two countries having granted it access rights.
Mr Varadi said the move was probably designed bolster Abu Dhabi’s airline, Etihad, which is owned by the Gulf state.
“Six years ago, Abu Dhabi was booming and the whole system was supportive of bringing in an ultra-low-cost carrier,” he said.
“Everyone was contributing, without any discrimination between the home airlines. But that changed and it became a case of Etihad first, with everyone else subordinated.
“That is not what we agreed when we made a commitment to invest in Abu Dhabi and it’s not a game we’re prepared to play. We said at the beginning that we would not be coming to be a second-class citizen.”
A Wizz air plane at Abu Dhabi International Airport
Last week Wizz suspended all flights from its Abu Dhabi hub, blaming the ‘hot and harsh’ climateCredit: NurPhoto
Wizz last week said it was abandoning the joint venture, which was established with the Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ in 2019.
Mr Varadi said the launch of flights to the Indian subcontinent had always been the venture’s ultimate goal, with the region accounting for 60pc of the travel market from Abu Dhabi.
He said: “We all had an understanding that we would be accessing markets like India and Pakistan. It was specifically mentioned in our investment memorandum.
“We got designated by Abu Dhabi and we started working with India and Pakistan and both of them approved our designation.
“But at that point Abu Dhabi changed its mind and they decided to remove our designation and hand that over to Etihad. So we were excluded from more than half of the market. That is not acceptable and not how we do business.”
Mr Varadi said the change in attitude coincided with the deepening of government efforts to focus Etihad more on local travel needs, rat
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